Saturn's famous rings are a 'recent' addition to the giant planet
They're the solar system's most iconic feature, but Saturn's glorious rings haven't always been there, a new study suggests.
Turns out that the rings are "relatively recent," scientists said, likely forming less than 100 million years ago and perhaps only 10 million years ago.
Saturn itself is some 4.5 billion years old, the same age as all the other planets in our solar system. This means that for most of its existence, Saturn was without its stunning rings.
The findings are based on data collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft as it orbited the planet in 2017, shortly before it burned up in Saturn's atmosphere.
"Only by getting so close to Saturn in Cassini's final orbits were we able to gather the measurements to make the new discoveries," said study lead author Luciano Iess, of Sapienza University of Rome.
"And with this work, Cassini fulfills a fundamental goal of its mission: not only to determine the mass of the rings, but to use the information to refine models and determine the age of the rings," he said. Lower mass points to a younger age.
More: Mystery of Saturn’s rings solved?
First spotted by astronomers in the 17th century, how Saturn's icy rings formed remains a mystery. Scientists suspect a collision between two of Saturn’s many moons or perhaps a moon and comet may be the cause.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Saturn's famous rings are a 'recent' addition to the giant planet
